My thoughts on IWD1 and IWD2

cbarchuk · Post by **cbarchuk** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:12 am

Well I just finished playing IWD2 after also completing IWD1 and its expansions. I must say that I enjoyed IWD1 a lot more. Is this a common experience that others have as well? I was very surprised I guess. It wasn't a bad game by any means but it just didn't pull me into the experience as much as the first one did. I think some of those reasons are that I prefer 2nd edition rules. With IWD2 I had all these recommended swiss army knife type of characters that didn't have any distinction. The game's main quest also just seem to drag on and on and alot of the fetch quests in Targos just completely killed it for me. This is, of course, just my opinion. I realize that both of the IWD games I meant to be more hack and slash. This may be true but the story of IWD1 really sucked me in for a hack and slash style game. At any rate I wanted to get other opinions on this. I don't plan to playing IWD2 again though I'm looking forward to starting in East Haven again. All in all it was great experience to play all the through the whole series. Onwards to BG...

Stworca · Post by **Stworca** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:09 am

[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/rpg-user-reviews-118/icewind-dale-ii-118714.html"]I think i too was disappointed by ID2[/url]

Ares2382 · Post by **Ares2382** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:38 pm

Not sure if IWD 1 is better then 2, since I never played 1, but I do kind of like 3rd Edition a bit more then 2nd. Personal prefference I guess.

On the bright side, since you're going on to the BG series, I would say you will find that the opposite is true. As revolutionary as BG1 was for it's time, BG2 just took everything that was great about BG1 and made it better.

Enjoy.

Philos · Post by **Philos** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:48 pm

I can certainly concur with many of the thoughts expressed regarding both games. I think the story line(s) in IWD 1 are better written and really like that the story is carried on in two expansions.

On the other hand there are certain aspects of the 3rd edition rules I like better than the 2nd edition used in IWD 1. One example being how ability score benefits (pluses) begin at lower scores so your characters do not need to have near max stats to be effective at their profession.

If I had to choose to take only one I think it would have to be IWD 1 due to the longer play (with the expansions) and better (IMHO) story.

childofbhaal · Post by **childofbhaal** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:15 am

IWD2 is my favorite of the 2 but just because I can roll a drow male mage(I am a big Gromph Baenre fan,lol).

simulacrum · Post by **simulacrum** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:46 pm

I got around to playing both games quite "recently" (it's been about 1.5 year now but considering for how much time they have been around..) and I must say my opinion on them is quite different to most of the guys above.

The first game seemed like a rather simplified hack and slash to me in terms of story and -especially- level design. I find the 2nd edition rules to be a drag for the most part and my opinion of it only slided more towards "solid" because of the "Heart of Winter" expansion which was tighter, more interesting and less of a chore compared to the main campaign. BG 1, which utilized the same set of D&D rules, was also very tiresome at times.

IW2 was not spectacular either, but I had a good time with it and the main story appealed to me much more. I guess the implementation of the 3rd edition rules also played its part. I don't think I could ever get back to playing either of them again any time soon, but if I had to choose, IWD2 would definitely get my vote and quite easily at that.

bonemn · Post by **bonemn** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:22 am

I do like IWD1 better than 2, but it´s probably for my lack of knowledge of 3rd edition rules. It took me a lot of time to find out what´s what in the 2nd ed-rules and i still don´t understand everything, but...I´m planing to start a Forgotten Realms venture with my mage. How long do you think will it take me to go through IWD1+HoW+TotL, IWD2, BG1+BG2+ToB(+some mega-mods), NWN+SoU+HoU, NWN2+MoB+MoW+SoZ ? That´s a hell of a calculation and though the result may be unknown, I don´t think my girlfriend will still remember my name after I´m done

dcinroc · Post by **dcinroc** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:46 pm

I definitely preferred IWD to IWD2. I thought the story was more engaging.

IWD2 had more variety in terms of places to go, but I just never felt compelled to continue in the same way as I did with IWD. I had the same problem with BG2. I know it's sacrilege, but I hated the BG2 story. Having never played BG1, I found my comapnions whiny and annoying and didn't give a darn about this superpower thingy I was supposed to have. And for all the stuff about how BG2 was so "non-linear" and "story driven", it was just as much a linear hack and slash as IWD, but with lots more side quests. With IWD, I actually cared about what happened to Kuldahar and the Sacred Tree.

As far as gameplay, I found the tactical decisions in IWD more interesting than IWD2. The right party mix with the right spells/equipment seemed more meaningful. In IWD2 it just seemed like ambush after ambush in which I'd use the exact same spells/tactics every time.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:28 pm

I liked IWD1 as well more as IWD2. I do prefer Third edition rules (not that IWD2 offered these, really), but IWD2's story took forever to get started, and never had that "lonely adventurers in the North" feel.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:05 pm

I'm one of the majority who prefer the 1st Icewind Dale. I can assure you this isn't through mass indoctrination though, it was something I was reassured about after I had played the two and gone on-line to see what other people thought.

I can only concur with others for the reasoning in that the 1st just felt more atmospheric and immersive.

I'm worried about giving exact game moments as examples as my memory regularly mixes the two games together, but the most notable game difference has also been mentioned for which I reiterate: Easthaven is just a much more pleasant and concise opener than Targos (or Teedios as it's more commonly known).

So, I would much rather re-play Icewind Dale 1 than 2, but I'd still much rather re-play Icewind Dale 2 than many, many other games out there.

Postscript

I'm not even happy that the Icewind Dale series gets labelled a Hack'n'Slash as I think it's enough more than this to cancel it's presence in that category. At times it feels like there's too wide a ratio of monsters to story advancement but never enough to make you feel like it's just a glorified arcade game such as with the popular but very base Diablo series, and when there is battling it's tactics based rather than button mashing.